Boot and shoe sole.



PATENTED NOV. 26, 1907. W. G. STEWART.

BOOT AND SHOE 'SOLE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 22, 1908.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM C. STEWART, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO. MANUFACTURERSMACHINE COMPANY, OF MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

' ratentea nov. 26,1907.

Application filed November 22 1906; Serial NO. 3441525;

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. STEWART, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, and a resident of Lynn, county of Essex, State ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Boot and Shoe Soles, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawingsreprescnting'lil e parts. I

This invention aims to provide a novel and highly flexible or pliablesole for b'oots, shoes or other foot wear.

The nature of my invention will be best understood from a description ofone embodiment thereof selected for illustration herein and illustratedin the accompanying drawing.

In this drawing; Figure 1 is a plan view of one face of an insoleillustrating one embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 a longitudinalsection on the line 22, Fig. 1, showing in dotted lines a portion oftheinsole bent or flexed; and Fig. 3 a transverse section on the flex orbend when in use.

line 3-3, Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale, showing in dotted lines therelation of the slitted portion of the insole to the marginal portion,when the insole is flexed.

In the particular embodiment of my invention selected for illustrationherein, and shown in the drawing, the sole illustrated and marked Siswhat is commonly known as a welt insole, that is, an insole adapted foruse in the manufacture of what is known as a welt boot or shoe, it beingunderstood, however, that my invention is not restricted to such a sole.

The sole illustrated is rovided with a marginal shoulder 5 fol owingapproximatel the outline of the sole and, within said s ioulder a shoechannel 6 to receive the welt or inseam stitches that secure the upperor welt to the insole. Within the channel 6 and, in the vicinity of thefore part or ball portion of the sole the latter is shown rovided with aseries of transverse sits, slashes, or incisions 7 shown as oblique (seeFig. 2) and extending from one surface of the sole through nearly to theopposite surface thereof, leavin an unslitted portion of rela-' tivelyslight t ckness such as will readily I Preferably the oblique slits willoverlap each other slightly,

as shown, thereby to reduce the thicknessof the intervening portions.The slits preferably open toward the heel end of the sole althoughexcellent results may be had where they 0 en op ositely or toward thetoe. I have ound, owever, that the transverse slits or incisions aremuch less eiiective 1n flexing thesole if the intervening portions nearthe endsthereof are permitted to remain oined integrally to the marginalor un- A gitudinal slits 0r incisions in the sole shown is to leave thesole portions lying between the transverse slits free to throw outwardlyas indicated in dotted lines Fig. 2, when the sole is flexed or bent inuse, thereby giving to the sole the greatest flexibility or pliabilitypossible to be derived from the transverse slits unrestrained by anytying or uniting of the intervening portions with the unslitted marginalportions of the sole. Inthe sole shown these longitudinal slits orincisions extend at their bottoms also oblirl uely downward following inthis respect't 1e planes of" the transvcrseslits formin substantially,

tongue or partially separate portions 9, the effect being that theentire portion of .the

sole'lying above each transverse slit, is leftfree'or separated at itsends from-the marginal ortion of the sole.

Or inarily it is suilicient to provide the intersecting or longitudinalslits or incisions at the ends only of the transverse slits, but,- ifdesired, the said'intervening sole: portions may be longitudinally slitat other points between their ends, as, .for instance, as indicatedatlO.l

I have rciierred to the flexibilit T of the sole being secured by.slitting or slas ing it, but obviously my invention contemplates anymethod of providing the sole with lines or planes of weakness/as definedin the claims Whether by slitting, slashing, scoring or other- Wise toproduce the desired effect.

' WVhile it is convenient to arrange thetransverse and longitudinalslits as here indicated, yet obviously the directions thereofmay bechanged relatively or otherwise as desired without detracting ordeparting from my invention.

Having described my invention by means of one embodiment thereof as anillustration of the same What I'clairn in addition thereto and desire tosecure byLetters Patent of the United States is 1. Asole for boots andshoes provided with a series of substantially transverse incisionsextending inwardly obliquely to one surface stantiallv transverseincisions of less length than the width of the sole, and longitudinalincisions disposed in planes intersecting the planes of said transverseincisions adjacent the terminal portions thereof."

. 4. A sole for boots and shoes having Sllb'. stantially transverseincisions disposed obliquely t0 the surface of the sole, a portion ofone transverse incision overlapping a portion forming integral tongues.

A 6; A sole for boots and shoes characterized of another, andlongitudinal incisions intersecting the transverse incisions.

5. A sole for boots and shoes characterized by substantially transverseincisions extend- 40 ingpartiallyflacross the sole forming transverseportions separated from the sole atone edge, said transverse portionseach having terminal parts separated fromthe sole and by substantiallyitransverse incisions disposed obliquely to the surface of the sole andforming transverse portions separated from the sole at one edge,terminal partsof said'transverse portions being also, free from the'sol-e material.

7. A sole for boots and shoes incised transversely and obliquely withrelation to the surface of the sole, and incised longitudinally inplanes intersecting the plane of the transverse incising and adjacentthe terminal portions thereof. I

8. A sole for boots and shoes provided with a series of transverselyextending inci- 6O sions disposed obliquely to the surface of the soleand opening toward the heel, and longitudinal incisions disposed inplanes intersectthe planes of the transverse incisions. in testimonywhereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of.tWo subscribing Witnesses.

WILLIAM C.' S'1EV\ 'AR'l. W'itnesses: '7 i v MERTON D. PHELAN,

SmNEr F. SMITH.

